Robert G. Scully: 1926-2017

Robert G. Scully, chairman of the board of Scully Signal Co., and the company’s president for 50 years beginning in 1964, died on Feb. 20. He was 91.

The son of company founder Francis P. Scully, he joined the family business as a regional salesperson in 1956.

“Following in his father’s footsteps, he led the charge to revolutionize the petroleum industry through mechanical and electronic systems designed to improve the safety and efficiency of fluid product transfer, loading and storage,” the Scully family stated in an announcement on the company website. “Dozens of patents established Scully as a pioneer in fuel oil delivery, overfill prevention, static ground proving and vehicle identification systems,” the family noted in the statement.

Scully officially retired as president in 2016 when Eric Kirleis joined the company as CEO. His daughter, Katrina Ohl, re-joined the company four years ago as executive vice president. Her brother Ian, sisters Andrea and Joia, as well as Frank, a nephew of Robert’s, are also involved with the company. Scully Signal Co. is based in Wilmington, Mass.

Scully is also survived by his wife Rosmarie, his sister, sister-in-law, eight grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

He had resided in Cambridge and Belmont, Mass. News of the death was published on the Scully Signal Co. website and on the website of the Stanton Funeral Home, Watertown, Mass., from which this obituary is compiled.

At the age of 17 he enlisted in the United States Navy, serving in the Signal Corps in the Pacific before his discharge in 1946. After graduating from Harvard University (’51) he took a position with American Express and worked in New York, England and San Francisco before joining the family business.